Roman Research In the second century CE there were 50-100 million people living in the Roman Empire. We know this today because there was data recorded from the census. Over one million people lived in the city of Rome. Rome's population got so big because of expansion. The Roman Empire expanded through Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Britain, Gaul and many more areas and civilizations. Rome was the center of the empire and everybody wanted to live there. About 95% of people in the empire were plebeians or slaves. The other five percent were patricians who lived in big, fancy dwellings.
Problems That the Romans Faced Because of Overpopulation Housing:Most of the people in Rome lived in cramped apartment rooms that they shared with two or three other families. If the Romans could afford beds, usually three or four people shared it. They lived in filthy neighborhoods where crime was often committed. Diseases:Diseases were spread quickly because once one person caught an illness it spread to more people in the household. Most people died from fevers, malaria, or other diseases from food. Unemployment:Lots of plebeians were unemployed because all of the farming and other jobs were given to the slaves. The government also couldn't provide enough jobs for everyone. Food:There wasn't enough farmland or food for everyone living in Rome which led to problems with starvation. Other Disasters: When people cooked food in apartments it sometimes led to fires because they had cheap ovens and stoves. There also wasn't enough space to cook properly.
Today's Research
Every year the population in the world is getting bigger by about 80 million people. If this continues to happen we will have more environmental, poverty, food and water, and unemployment problems.
People need space to live. The space right now that is unoccupied by people is being used by animals and plants. We need food and water to survive and there is lots of space needed to grow crops.To create more farmland people are starting to cut down a lot of trees which is destroying plant and animal homes. There are also 400 million people who live somewhere without enough drinking water.
In places like Africa there are people who are dying in poverty because they don't have enough money to buy food for themselves or their family. Around 1/3 of people living in Africa are hungry. The African population is also growing and the average number of kids is one family is 5.
There is not enough food produced for everyone on the planet and the cost of food is rising. Poor families don't have the money to buy food. Therefore people are dying from starvation.
In some parts of the world immigration greatly effects the population. If a lot of people immigrate to one country then it will leave the other country populations unbalanced.
The unemployment rates are raising every day because the government can't provide enough jobs for everybody to be employed.
As there are more people on earth the pollution is also growing. There are more people on earth who are driving in cars, throwing away trash (instead or recycling), and using electricity.
Overpopulation creates much more traffic in cities, states, and countries.
Today the population is over 7 billion people and is expected to reach up to 12 billion people in the year 2100 (if the rates stay the same as they are now). That will almost double the need for food than what we have today.
Possible Solutions Today
We can educate young people about overpopulation. Then, more people will be aware of the problems the world is having with overpopulation.
Another possible solution is to lower taxes for people who only have one or two kids and raise taxes for people who have over three or four kids.This would reward people for trying to reduce the population in the world.
Hello, My name is Maria and I am a seventh grader at Nagel Middle School in Cincinnati, Ohio. I am seeking your help for a project my classmates and I are doing called the Roman Time Machine. I am researching about ancient Roman and present day problems involving overpopulation. I saw an article that you wrote in the Los Angeles Times and was wondering if you could help me answer a few questions about overpopulation.
What are some of the most effective measures being taken in the US to control overpopulation?
How much will overpopulation effect the environment if it continues to rise at the same rate as it is today?
How will people live if the population rises to 10 billion people by the end of 2050?
If you get a chance you can reply back to me at mariabrophy@foresthills.edu. Thank you for your time.
Final Project
Roman Research
In the second century CE there were 50-100 million people living in the Roman Empire. We know this today because there was data recorded from the census. Over one million people lived in the city of Rome. Rome's population got so big because of expansion. The Roman Empire expanded through Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Britain, Gaul and many more areas and civilizations. Rome was the center of the empire and everybody wanted to live there. About 95% of people in the empire were plebeians or slaves. The other five percent were patricians who lived in big, fancy dwellings.
Problems That the Romans Faced Because of Overpopulation
Housing: Most of the people in Rome lived in cramped apartment rooms that they shared with two or three other families. If the Romans could afford beds, usually three or four people shared it. They lived in filthy neighborhoods where crime was often committed.
Diseases:Diseases were spread quickly because once one person caught an illness it spread to more people in the household. Most people died from fevers, malaria, or other diseases from food.
Unemployment:Lots of plebeians were unemployed because all of the farming and other jobs were given to the slaves. The government also couldn't provide enough jobs for everyone.
Food:There wasn't enough farmland or food for everyone living in Rome which led to problems with starvation.
Other Disasters: When people cooked food in apartments it sometimes led to fires because they had cheap ovens and stoves. There also wasn't enough space to cook properly.
Today's Research
Possible Solutions Today
People to Contact
- Ken R. Weiss http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/population/la-fg-population-matters1-20120722-html,0,7213271.htmlstory
ken.weiss@latimes.comEmails Sent
Hello,
My name is Maria and I am a seventh grader at Nagel Middle School in Cincinnati, Ohio. I am seeking your help for a project my classmates and I are doing called the Roman Time Machine. I am researching about ancient Roman and present day problems involving overpopulation. I saw an article that you wrote in the Los Angeles Times and was wondering if you could help me answer a few questions about overpopulation.
What are some of the most effective measures being taken in the US to control overpopulation?
How much will overpopulation effect the environment if it continues to rise at the same rate as it is today?
How will people live if the population rises to 10 billion people by the end of 2050?
If you get a chance you can reply back to me at mariabrophy@foresthills.edu. Thank you for your time.
Maria Brophy
Sources:
Gigante, Linda. "Death and Disease in Ancient Rome." Http:www.innominatesociety.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.
http://www.innominatesociety.com/Articles/Death%20and%20Disease%20in%20Ancient%20Rome.htm
"English-Online." Dangers of Overpopulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2013.
http://www.english-online.at/geography/world-population/dangers-of-overpopulation.htm
Lewis, Brenda Ralph. "Plebeian Life in Ancient Rome." Suite101.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2013.
http://suite101.com/article/plebeian-life-in-ancient-rome-a176601
"Overpopulation." Lifeofearth.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.
http://lifeofearth.org/environment/overpopulation